House File 4541 , authored by Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL – St. Paul) allocates $100 million to assure thousands of Minnesotans can pay their rent. The funding goes directly to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). Qualified homeowners will also receive help paying their mortgages, utility bills and property taxes. The House proposal has broad support, ranging from the Homes for All Coalition, representing 250 Minnesota housing organizations, to the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association, which represents property management companies throughout the state.
“During this uncertain time, the last thing we want is create more homelessness,” said Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul), chair of Housing Finance and Policy Division. “This pandemic has created unimaginable heartache and we don’t want to add to the hardship by allowing renters and homeowners to slip through the cracks. We have the resources to ensure all Minnesotans will continue to be able to stay in their homes during this very stressful time.”
The committee approved House File 3029, authored by Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls), which invests in broadband development.
“COVID-19 has highlighted how broadband isn’t a technological luxury. Instead a steady internet connection is something every student, family, and business should be able to rely on,” Rep. Ecklund said. “The Border-to-Border Grant Program has been an effective tool to expand broadband to the areas that need it most. With the added investments targeted to distance learning and telemedicine, this bill will make significant progress to ensure more Minnesotans can get online.”
The legislation invests $10 million in the state’s Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program to expand high-speed broadband, with the funding targeted to unserved areas. It also invests $8 million in a new Distance Learning Broadband Access Grant Program to provide students with the equipment necessary to access learning materials on the internet and reimburse school districts for costs to provide broadband access. Finally, it invests $2 million in the new Telemedicine Equipment Reimbursement Grant Program to reimburse health care providers and counties that purchase and install telemedicine equipment to provide COVID-19-related health care services.
House File 168, authored by Rep. Jen Schultz (DFL – Duluth) and Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL – Northfield) delivers a 15 percent temporary rate increase for personal care assistance (PCA) services during the COVID-19 pandemic and makes other program modifications to help ensure vulnerable Minnesotans get the care they need.
“Minnesota PCAs perform challenging workday in and day out to ensure people with disabilities, older adults, and others who may be vulnerable can live with dignity,” said Rep. Schultz. “The people providing these critical services put their hearts and souls into their jobs. Especially during this pandemic – when they are putting themselves at higher risk of exposure – they deserve to be paid a living wage.”
In addition to the 15 percent rate increase, PCAs can now be paid for 310 hours of services per month, up from 275. The bill allows a parent or legal guardian of a minor PCA recipient, or a spouse of a PCA recipient, to earn wages for providing PCA services during the peacetime emergency.
House File 1507, authored by Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL – Coon Rapids), appropriates $55 million to the Small Business Emergency Loan Program at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which was launched by Executive Order 20-15 from Gov. Walz on March 23. The program’s original $30 million has since been exhausted.
“We have to do better for our Minnesota small businesses. Whether a small business survives the pandemic should not depend on whether they are able to play the influence game or Washington politics,” remarked Rep. Stephenson. “The small family business here in Minnesota deserves a chance to make it to the other side of COVID-19 just as much as the huge, well-connected businesses that emptied the available federal funds.”
A recording of the hearing will be available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel.